Donald Trump, by all appearances, is a racist. He called people from Mexico “rapists and criminals” on the first day of his campaign. Then, he tried to ban Muslims from entering the country with a snarled and dismal executive order. Now, a federal judge just ruled on his ban citing a surprising reason.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang halted Trump’s latest attempt to block people from Syria, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Chad, Somalia, North Korea, and Venezuela from coming here. This is the third governmental effort for the ban to work its way through the courts. This time, the judge noted that Trump’s own words during the campaign worked against him.

Chuang decided that the president’s executive order constituted a Muslim ban, which is unconstitutional. The Washington Post wrote that he called it:

‘Like the two versions before it, President Trump’s latest travel ban is still a Muslim ban at its core. And like the two before it, this one is going down to defeat in the courts.’

The White House released a statement about the president’s restrictions, calling them “vital:”

‘These restrictions are vital to ensuring that foreign nations comply with the minimum security standards required for the integrity of our immigration system and the security of our Nation. We are therefore confident that the Judiciary will ultimately uphold the President’s lawful and necessary action and swiftly restore its vital protections for the safety of the American people.’

Chuang wrote in his decision that he believed the Trump administration made:

‘Certain subjective determinations that resulted in a disproportionate impact on majority-Muslim nations. (The government gave) no evidence, even in the form of classified information submitted to the Court, showing an intelligence-based terrorism threat justifying a ban on entire nationalities. (The new ban) generally resembles President Trump’s earlier description of the Muslim ban.’
The judge also noted that Trump had added two non-Muslim majority countries, North Korea and Venezuela. He wrote:

‘The “initial” announcement of the Muslim ban, offered repeatedly and explicitly through President Trump’s own statements, forcefully and persuasively expressed his purpose in unequivocal terms.’
Will Trump go for a fourth try?